Crystal Ball Required

I went to the Toys R Us website today to figure where the closest store is.

It works much like others.  But then I noticed something.  Each location has a backwards R (which is their icon) next to it.  These "R's" are in either Blue, Purple, or Green.  There is no legend or nothing to explain the difference.

Initially, I didn't notice that some were purple (too close to the blue).  It SEEMED that the Blue ones were only TRU and the Green were both.  Then I realized that didn't hold.  Perhaps I needed a crystal ball.  Better yet, I should have purchased a Magic 8 Ball from them.  (If you're under 30, look it up.)

Clicking on Chat, I asked to provide feedback.  At first the person said there was a legend.  (Good approach--tell your customer that s/he is either blind or dumb.) Then I gave him the link and he realized there wasn't.  He then explained that it had to do with the availability of pickup--next day, 10 hours, etc.

He then gave me a page that showed me the options.  But there was no way one could see on that page, to which store it applied.

If you're going to use symbols, explain what they are.  In my "role" to make the Internet user friendly, I found the contact us list.  Guess what....choices include live chat, phone or Facebook.  Facebook would be the best as it embarrasses the company, but I wanted to just drop an email.

If you study personality types (Myers-Briggs, or the dozens of others), personality types have different preferences for communication:  face to face, email, phone, etc.  By not allowing email contact,  they miss feedback from about 20-25% of their customers.  And since those customers have different buying patterns, they are working without any knowledge from those people.

By the way, on the pathway to the "Contact Us" dead end, they answer questions about the PIN Number on Gift Cards.  I think PIN Number is a term created by the Department of Redundancy and Repetitiveness Department and Division.